At the edge of Antarctica, shielded by great expanses of thick sea ice, the Ross Sea is one of the coldest, remotest and most inhospitable places on earth. Yet it is also one of the planet's last relatively untouched ecosystems, sheltering large numbers of Adélie and Emperor penguins, Weddell seals, orcas, minke whales and other creatures. All that began to change in 1996, when commercial fishing fleets started harvesting Antarctic toothfish from the frigid, nutrient-rich waters at the bottom of the world. Weller, an accomplished photographer and writer, co-founded the Last Ocean Project in response, an organization devoted to protecting the Ross Sea as a pristine nature reserve. This book documents his research trips to the region in soulful, meditative prose and haunting, otherworldly imagery.

This article was originally published with the title "The Last Ocean: Antarctica's Ross Sea Project: Saving the Most Pristine Ecosystem on Earth."

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